Roberto Burle Marx: Painting, Architecture and Landscaping in the Creation of a New Language for Gardens

docomomo · 42 — Summer 2010

doco42—53/99.indd 66 29/07/10 17:55 ainting, architecture and landscaping have never been so well incorporated in one person as P in Roberto Burle Marx. His painter skills enabled Roberto Burle Marx to apply deep thorough pictorial principles to the landscape, thus avoiding other approaches made by pioneers who literally transposed cubist or abstract art, which almost resulted in caricatures. His botanical knowledge allowed him to discover new species in regard to their individual beauty and to their proper integration in ecological environments, which provided adequate choices of harmonious systems in terms of their aesthetics and their good survival in the new garden habitat.

By Lauro Cavalcanti

AINTING, architecture and landscaping have exaggerated nationalist stance. In order to escape this never been so well incorporated in one person chauvinistic trap, he took use of his intellectual sophistica- Pas in Roberto Burle Marx. Intended as a total art- tion, of his admiration for universality driven by abstrac- work, modern architecture aimed to integrate structural tionism and last but not the least, he invested in the growth support and visual appearance, organize both internal of the scope of his work by leading botanical research and external spaces and act upon urban planning and expeditions around tropical and subtropical areas of the urban design. Within this process, the garden began to planet. draw nearer or even merge with the building and art lost One of the weaknesses of modern architecture was its façade decorative function, as it either had sculptural its inability to cope with the inevitable effects of the flow physical presence or acted as a source of inspiration for of time in its accomplishments. Pure and ideal works al- the organization of gardens. most always age very badly. Whereas patina and small His painter skills enabled Roberto Burle Marx to ap- flaws provide strength and density to historicist styles, in ply deep thorough pictorial principles to the landscape, modern buildings they stain smooth surfaces and there- thus avoiding other approaches made by pioneers who fore reveal modernism’s pretensions of obtaining timeless literally transposed cubist or abstract art, which almost and definitive accomplishments. Burle Marx’s botanical resulted in caricatures. His botanical knowledge allowed knowledge aided his landscaping, specifically in the 67 him to discover new species in regard to their individual choosing of the proper plants, in guaranteeing a good beauty and to their proper integration in ecological envi- climate adaptation and in precisely anticipating their ronments, which provided adequate choices of harmoni- volumes, colors and textures throughout their lifetime. ous systems in terms of their aesthetics and their good As far as more fragile and perishable specimens were survival in the new garden habitat. concerned, being familiar with them helped him predict The mastering of architectural space was an essential the moment to replant. Thus, time was not his enemy, but feature of his work, since it enabled him to establish a rather a constant ally. The landscaper used to say that dialogue between buildings’ forms, spaces and volumes, his function was simply to initiate work in the garden, as which could make the garden echo, harmonize, contrast, “time finishes the idea.”2 or even, when inferior in quality, surpass and outshine Artists of peripheral nations tend to, in most cases, architecture itself.1 simply translate and deploy visual thinking already de- At the turn of the twentieth century, the importation of veloped in the Northern Hemisphere, or engage in a intellectual models and styles took place in every artis- compulsory regionalism, as exoticism is the only way they tic field across the countries of South America. As far as may obtain international awareness and interest. Burle landscaping is concerned, this practice became very seri- Marx was able to avoid both of these traps. Along with ous as the imported elements faded or did not adapt to his enormous personal qualities, how could we explain Brazil’s climate. As a consequence, a two–fold strategy this rare phenomenon? was needed: to break up with the rigid models of mainly Nothing in Brazil’s origins or its elite aversion towards French Fine Arts School and reduce or abolish exoge- native specimens, suggested that the country would give nous species. birth to the man who deployed twentieth century land- Like many other twentieth century landscapers of dif- scaping worldwide. It was of great value to Burle Marx ferent nationalities, the creator of Aterro do Flamengo re- to have had a family education, where he learnt French, habilitated native plants and put them to noble use. Burle German and Pernambucan cultures with common–sense Marx knew how to accomplish this without adopting an and sophistication. Besides this, he had a favorable so-

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docomomo · 42 — Summer 2010 Roberto Burle Marx: Painting, Architecture and Landscaping in the Creation of a New Language for Gardens

doco42—53/99.indd 68 29/07/10 17:55 cial and economical situation and a good network of so- our hot and humid climate. Out of sight from passers–by cial contacts. Above all, he belonged to a generation that and most ceremonial guests, the backyards had mostly strived, in various fields, to build a contemporary culture fruit trees and native shrubs. In one of these backyards, at that would not deny world’s cultural singularities. the foot of Pedra do Leme, young Roberto cultivated his The ‘new’ architecture was part of Brazil’s broad cul- first flowerbeds by planting bromeliads and other creep- tural vanguard movement of the first half of the twentieth ing plants which he collected during his strolls on the trails century, which distanced itself from folklore and offered that shored the sea and bordered the hill. His discovery cosmopolitan versions of ‘Brazilness’. Based on his An- of native vegetation was concomitant with the discovery thropophagic Manifesto, metaphorically speaking, Os- of the ocean, as described by the landscaper: “It was in wald de Andrade wanted the European culture to be Rio that I felt the see for the first time . . . the smell of sand. devoured by our native organism, taking advantage of its An enchantment for me, the sea.”4 virtues and discarding its obsolete or inadequate charac- Due to his numerous journeys, Burle Marx’s life was teristics: “Brazilians and of our time.”3 rich in revelations and stories: his move from São Paulo to The vegetable kingdom was not free from discrimina- Rio as a boy allowed him to have his first tropical nature tion. At bourgeois houses, there was a clear distinction experience. In addition, his trip to Germany consolidat- between gardens and backyards. In the former case, usu- ed his fondness for Brazilian specimens as he gazed at ally located between the building and the street, ‘noble’ them at the greenhouse of the Botanical Garden of Berlin, specimens such as roses, cypresses, pines, begonias and where he painted outdoors. azaleas were predominately planted between geometri- Upon returning to Brazil in 1932, Roberto moved to cal carved hedges, in the form of French topiary. It was Recife and in his family’s propriety he began trying to unthinkable to use local plants, even if those from temper- plant native specimens. In 1937, he took up permanent ate climates were wilted due to their poor adaptation to residence in Rio de Janeiro, where he executed a series of abstract gardens, which were to become modern movement ‘classics’. In 1938, the design of the plaza in front of Santos Du- Figure 1. Roberto Burle Marx, Park of Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, 1961. General perspective view. 50 x 70 cm. mont airport (1937–1944), built by the Roberto Brothers, gave Burle Marx the opportunity to develop the first mod- Figure. 2. Roberto Burle Marx, Park of Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, ern public artwork. Rocks, water and trees from different 69 1961. General plan. Collection Burle Marx & Cia Ldta. Photo by Cesar Barreto. places across Brazil were used. The plaza has not one

Roberto Burle Marx: Painting, Architecture and Landscaping in the Creation docomomo · 42 — Summer 2010 of a New Language for Gardens

doco42—53/99.indd 69 29/07/10 17:55 straight line: it was designed based on two sinuous paral- stupendous work of Oscar Niemeyer. During the con- lel paths, which defined three major plant ‘islands’. struction of the Ministry of Education and Health building, In the central part, a large lake with Amazon aquatic Burle Marx had a sort of an informal post–graduation vegetation contains a small island and three small equal- in painting, as Portinari’s frescoes assistant, and in land- ly rounded hills. From the long and undulating benches, scaping, with the guidance of Lúcio Costa.6 which run along the bed line, one could spot the pilotis A close examination of his three proposals for the Min- of the terminal and behind it, the great monumental glass istry’s garden reveal the slow and debated process that window, the airstrip and Guanabara Bay. Critic Henry– took place until reaching the brilliant final result: the first Russell Hitchcock referred to the site as the “most beauti- project, requested presumably by Le Corbusier, was de- ful airport in the world.”5 vised to have aligned palm trees on the ground floor and Burle Marx’s reputation largely surpassed the strict well tidy squared long beds on the garden–terrace; in the realm of his professional field from the moment he de- second sketch, already supervised by Lúcio Costa, the signed the gardens for the Ministry of Education and first rounded shapes appear, although not so charming as Health (1937–1943). A vertical building of fourteen sto- the ones contained in the third built project; here sinuous ries high, suspended by pilasters, with glass façades on shapes acquire definitive form, where natives specimens the south side and brise–soleil on the north side, enables are spread along a vast pattern of different shades of the public to cross the ground and experience the geo- green, red and yellow. By possessing bright hues, differ- metric and abstract shapes of the garden as a large pub- ent from those found in a royal garden, Roberto’s palette lic square, where boundaries between public and private possess, by itself, the intrinsic value of a work of art in the areas faded. best tradition of informal abstractionism. In this project, he had the opportunity to work with Following Gestalt principles, Roberto’s drawings of the most renowned personalities of the new architecture, gardens at the time did not have a separation between such as Lúcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Affonso Reidy and figure and background; they interchange, depending on Jorge Moreira. Alongside Costa and Niemeyer, Burle the way we look at them. One may perceive the colored Marx contributed to confer our own modernism with a surface that demarcates the planted areas or privilege to specific peculiarity, the introduction of curves to Le Cor- view the bending blank space, which defines the several busier’s initial proposal. Here, these sinuous lines, which existing pathways. In the former case, abstract irregu- 70 would become one of the main characteristics of Brazil- lar shapes like amoebas are made visible. On the other ian modernism, experimentally appear in subsidiary el- hand, when focusing on the paths, the impression one ements of construction: furniture, screens, rugs, murals gets is that of a liquid that melted and found a twisted and gardens. Later on, curves definitely materialize in way through the obstructing obstacles. the church of Pampulha and establish themselves in the When flying over the South American continent, Le

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doco42—53/99.indd 70 29/07/10 17:55 Corbusier was very impressed by the winding river routes and their estuaries. In his book, named Précisions, the author of Le Poème de l’angle droit described that vision as a metaphor to express the need to substitute the lingering natural order by another rational straight, fast and pure order. After the master’s return to the Old Continent, Vale- rie Frasier made a conjecture about how the landscaper had despised drawings that depicted aligned palm trees upon flat soil.7 As a sweet revenge, based on the infor- mation contained in Précisions, he argued: “with Burle Marx’s gardens, Brazil has recovered its own flora and topography in order to embrace the contradictions of the barbarian, however ours.” Besides his geographical journeys, one other kind of voyage was crucial for Roberto Burle Marx’s professional trajectory: the shifting of painting principles to the discipline of garden composition. As a painter, drawer, 4 engraver, sculptor, ceramicist, scenographer, musician, jeweler, and of course landscaper, Marx was a complete artist. Within this polyhedral humanism, his painter and landscaper sides remained especially inseparable. His To understand soil adaptation, climate, odor, volume and status as a painter helped him transplant logics and forms appearance during the various stages of vegetal speci- of artistic vanguard into gardens, therefore molding a mens’ existence is crucial to create the unstable and yet unique and modern aesthetic of nature’s plastic organi- permanent landscape compositions. No pictorial expres- zation. Although today our concept of painting is very sion could replace the feeling of walking along the vari- broad, it is still impressive to witness the contemporaneity ous tones, textures, noises, lights and shadows of plants, of his words: “I decided to use the natural topography as stones and waters of Burle Marx’s gardens. a surface for composition and nature’s elements—minerals, Painting and landscaping are a continuous flux in 71 vegetables—as materials to plastically organize, similar Roberto’s art, without one diminishing the other: “Each to what a painter does when using a canvas, paint and specialty calls for a specific technique and a means of ex- brushes.”8 Besides the sinuousness of the elements, one pression. As a result, I struggle a lot: I do not wish to make of his major contributions was to use continuous splotches a painting that resembles a garden. However, there is no of color, therefore substituting the existing miscellaneous- doubt in my mind that painting and all its artistic problems ly colored flowerbeds and gardens. have influenced my own concept of art. During my life, I Despite the visual harmony that permeates his work, have strived not to confine myself to one formula. I hate it would be misleading to regard his landscaping as a formulas. I love principles.”9 simple translation of his painting. Firstly, it is important to The resounding success of the landscaper contributed stress that in the 1930s and 1940s, while beautiful fig- to eclipse, in a sense, his abstract vigorous painting. How- ures prevailed in his canvas, abstractionism had already ever, an examination of his overall visual artwork, which influenced his terraces and public squares projects. Sec- was assembled at his commemorating hundredth anniver- ondly, his painting theory concepts would be worthless if sary exhibition, corrected this distortion and made it clear it were not for his deep botanical knowledge of species. that he was in fact an important figure in Brazilian art: his scattered brushstrokes sometimes generously and amply spread across the surface and define colored areas; at Figure 3. Roberto Burle Marx, project for the terrace garden. other times, his grand gestures contrast with detailed sec- Oscar Niemeyer, Lúcio Costa, Affonso Reidy and team, tions within large shapes. Both series of engravings and consultation by Le Corbusier, Ministry of Education and Health, Rio de Janeiro, 1938. Gouache on paper, 52 x 105.5 cm. black and white drawings demonstrate that the quality Collection Burle Marx & Cia Ldta. of his work does not solely reside in the excellence of his vibrant chromatic palette. In some of his 1950s works, it Figure 4. Roberto Burle Marx, Untitled, 1992. Acrylic on canvas, 132.5 x 134 cm. is clear that constructivism was beginning to take its first Collection Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. steps until it became the mainstream of national art. Rigid Photos by Cesar Barreto. geometry was not surely his favorite means of expres-

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Figure 5. Roberto Burle Marx, Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, 1953 sion. As far as containment is concerned, Roberto used (partially done). to say that it was fundamental to a painter to know when Plan. Automotive painting on Eucatex, 122 x 150 cm. to stop and recognize a finished work. However, he also Collection Burle Marx & Cia Ldta. believed that this idea should not translate in being afraid Figure 6. Roberto Burle Marx, country house for Odette and to be daring. With a rich personality, he would rather Julio Monteiro, 1948. Project. Gouache. risk being excessive than to stop due to fear or shyness. Collection Burle Marx & Cia Ldta. Photos by Cesar Barreto. Especially in landscaping, this boldness was framed by a careful selection and exclusion of elements: “we must have the courage to reject elements that seem beautiful but do not bring the desired outcome when associated with others. An apprentice tends to use everything he is familiar with. As a result, he will create a cluster of plants and not a garden, a work of art.”10 Two aspects were central to Roberto Burle Marx’s success: his botanical knowledge and his management of an entire garden as a single aesthetic element. These two qualities are inseparable throughout his work: his ecological knowledge allowed him not only to predict the growth of specimens, but above all, to choose cohesive sets of plants that unfold and dialogue harmoniously between themselves, with others sets and with minerals and water. By also being organized according to other aesthetic criteria such as mass, volume texture and color, this sys-

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tem forms an indivisible whole. As el–Dahdah observed: or even havens like microclimates, when needed within “What Burle Marx proposes in his work is what the French a city or a hostile environment. Not only plants were philosopher Henri–Louis Bergson once referred as con- used to craft a garden: stones, lakes, streams, waterfalls, tinuous multiplicities, which are shaped by several tem- animal life, constructions in the shape of panels, granite poral heterogeneous forces and cannot be divided into gables, sculptures and stone Portuguese pavements. constituents.”11 Although a great innovator, he despised his work to In Burle Marx’s definition, landscaping was a planned be criticized, as above all, he valued originality: “My organization of the natural elements: a human cultural own philosophical concept of constructed landscape is intervention in the existing world. An action analogous based on the historical direction of all eras, recognizing with the actions of the Neolithic man: “to change the top- in each period, the expression of aesthetic thought which ographic nature in order for human existence to adapt manifests in other art forms. In this sense, my work reflects individually and collectively, functionally and pleasur- modernity and the moment in time of its creation, however ably.”12 By being aware of economic issues but averse it never loses sight of the reasons of tradition, which are to reductionisms which ignored the symbolic dimension, valid and required.”14 Burle Marx argued that landscaping should attend to “an With rare judgment, Burle Marx understood that gar- aesthetic need which is neither luxury nor waste, but an den compositions were lagged when compared with the absolute human life need, without which civilization itself aesthetic principles of the new paintings. He established would lose its aesthetic reason.”13 a unique dialogue between both disciplines and uses the The garden is neither a mirror nor a copy of nature, horizontal organization of abstract painting as a starting since it acts differently and independently from Man’s point for the layout of gardens species. concepts. For the author of Parque do Flamengo, the planned garden should establish a constant mediation with the landscape so as to produce echoes, contrasts

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Figure 7. Roberto Burle Marx, Painted tissues, 1980s–1990s. Show “Burle Marx: 100 years, the permanence of the instable” at Paço Imperial. Collection Janete Costa (longest tapestry) and Collection Burle Marx & Cia Ldta (other tapestries). Photo by Cesar Barreto.

docomomo · 42 — Summer 2010 Roberto Burle Marx: Painting, Architecture and Landscaping in the Creation of a New Language for Gardens

doco42—53/99.indd 74 29/07/10 17:55 Notes References Lauro Cavalcanti 1. Burle Marx lived with several architects Burle Marx, Roberto. “Conceitos de com- Architect, PhD in Sociology of Art, is the au- of the first modern generation, had Cos- posição em paisagismo,” in Lauro Caval- thor of several books and essays on Brazilian ta as his mentor and studied architecture canti and Farès el-Dahdah (eds.). Roberto modernism, among which When Brazil was for one year. Burle Marx 100 anos: a permanência do Modern: Architecture 1928–1960 (New 2. Apud Rosana Vaccarino, “Corre- instável. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2009. York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003). spondência de tempo e instabilidade Cavalcanti, Lauro. Moderno e brasileiro: a He curated various exhibitions among them: dos Jardins”, na página 161 do livro história de uma nova linguagem na ar- Still Modern? Brazilian Contemporary Ar- Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos: a per- quitetura (1930–1960). Rio de Janeiro: chitecture (Institut Français d’Architecture, manência do instável, organizado por Jorge Zahar, 2006. Paris, 2005), Oscar Niemeyer: 10/100 Lauro Cavalcanti e Farès el-Dahdah Cavalcanti, Lauro, and Farès el-Dahdah (Paço Imperial, Rio, 2007; Heerlen, 2009; (Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2009). (eds.). Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos: a Madrid, 2009), Burle Marx 100 Years: the 3. “Manifesto da poesia do pau-brasil”. permanência do instável. Rio de Janeiro: Permanence of the Instability (Paço Imperial, Em Oswald de Andrade. Do pau-brasil Rocco, 2009. Rio, 2008; São Paulo, 2009; Berlin, 2009). à antropofagia e às utopias. Obras el-Dahdah, Farès. “Paisagens Instáveis,” in Lauro Cavalcanti lives in Rio, Brazil; he is Completas 6 (Rio de Janeiro: Civiliza- Lauro Cavalcanti and Farès el-Dahdah professor at the School of Design in Rio and ção Brasileira,1972, p. 10). (eds.). Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos: a director of Paço Imperial, Cultural Center for 4. Trecho retirado de depoimento de Ro- permanência do instável. Rio de Janeiro: Landmarks and Contemporary Art. berto Burle Marx a Soraia Cals para o Rocco, 2009. filme: Eu, Roberto Burle Marx. Direção Fraser, Valerie. “Canibalizando Le Corbus- geral: Tamara Leftel; coordenação e re- ier: os jardins do MES de Burle Marx,” portagens: Soraia Cals, 1989. in Lauro Cavalcanti and Farès el-Dahdah 5. Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. Latin Ameri- (eds.). Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos: a can Architecture since 1945 (New York: permanência do instável. Rio de Janeiro: Museum of Modern Art, 1955, p. 35). Rocco, 2009. 6. He was also an assistant of Alberto Giedion, Siegfrid. “Burle Marx e o Guignard and a student of Mario de jardim contemporâneo,” L’Architecture Andrade, in the carioca season of the d’aujourd’hui (August 1952). author of Macunaíma. Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. Latin American 7. “Canibalizando Le Corbusier: os jardins Architecture since 1945. New York: Mu- do MES de Burle Marx,” in Cavalcanti seum of Modern Art, 1955. and el-Dahdah, Roberto Burle Marx Lenhardt, Jacques. “Roberto Burle Marx na 75 100 anos. história: da modernidade à ecologia,” in 8. “Conceitos de composição em paisa- Lauro Cavalcanti and Farès el-Dahdah gismo,” in Cavalcanti and el-Dahdah, (eds.). Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos: a Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos, 7 7. permanência do instável. Rio de Janeiro: 9. Interview with Susy Melo, published in Rocco, 2009. the exhibition catalog 43 anos de pin- Tabacow, José. “Roberto Burle Marx, a tura, curated by Lélia Coelho Frota in the ciência da percepção,” in Lauro Caval- Museu de Arte da Pampulha. canti and Farès el-Dahdah (eds.). Roberto 10. “Jardins residenciais,” in José Tabacow Burle Marx 100 anos: a permanência do (ed.), Arte&Paisagem conferências instável. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2009. escolhidas (São Paulo: Studio Nobel, Vaccarino, Rosana. “Correspondência de 1984), 103. tempo e instabilidade dos jardins,” in 11. “Paisagens instáveis,” in Cavalcanti and Lauro Cavalcanti and Farès el-Dahdah el-Dahdah, Roberto Burle Marx 100 (eds.). Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos: a anos, 110 . permanência do instável. Rio de Janeiro: 12. “Conceitos de composição em paisa- Rocco, 2009. gismo,” in Cavalcanti and el-Dahdah, Wilson, Andrew. Paysagistes : ceux qui ont Roberto Burle Marx 100 anos, 78. marqué le siècle. Paris: Octupus, 2003. 13. Idem. Zevi, Bruno. “O arquiteto no jardim,” 14. Idem, 77–78. L’Expresso (June 16, 1957). Re-published in Paulo Peltier de Queiroz, Lucia Victoria Peltier de Queiroz and Leonardo Boff (eds.). Roberto Burle Marx: Homenagem à natureza. Petrópolis: Editora Vozes, 1979.

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Figure 8. Roberto Burle Marx, Tapestries, c. 1970. The largest is 26 x 3.3 meters, the other on the left is 2.75 x 5 meters. Show “Burle Marx: 100 years, the permanence of the instable” at Paço Imperial. Collection Burle Marx & Cia Ldta. Photo by Cesar Barreto.

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